BENEDICTINE MONASTERY

The area in which the Benedictine monastery stands is the most significant for the reconstruction of the millennia-old history of Catania: the evidence of human presence starts from the Middle Neolithic (fifth millennium B.C.) and reaches up to the present day. The Neolithic burial of a woman with two children found in the east courtyard of the monastery represents one of the oldest evidences of human presence in this area.

In prehistoric times the area was occupied until the Bronze Age. Then anthropic traces were interrupted to resume with the first Greek settlers, the Chalcidans of Naxos founded on Montevergini hill the first nucleus of Katane in 729 BC.

The first destruction of the city occurred at Syracusan hands in the 5th century BC, and reconstruction is evidenced by traces of buildings and roads from the 4th century BC.

In the area of the monastery the Roman, Republican and Imperial periods are well represented in the archaeological remains of the decumanus cardo paved with basalt stone, the unearthed remains of buildings, nymphaeums and baths, in the area of the eastern courtyard, and the remains of a domus from the 2nd century AD with mosaic floors brought to light in the room on the north side of the western cloister.

In the Middle Ages this part of the Montevergine hill that would later be occupied by the monastery underwent a process of depopulation and abandonment.

It was from 1558 that construction of the complex began. In 1669 the lava flow lapped the monastery, damaging it, and during the disastrous earthquake of 1693, 34 of the 48 monks who resided perished. Destructions were followed by ambitious extensions and reconstructions. Through this troubled history the monument that reaches us today, which includes cloisters, libraries, an imposing basilica and a splendid hanging garden, is an admirable example of the union of several historical elements that complement each other. Certainly this is one of the reasons why the Benedictine monumental complex has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Today the convent is home to the Department of Human Sciences of the University of Catania.